Florida State Knocks Off UNC
Seminoles Advance to the ACC Final Behind Douglas : Florida State 73, North Carolina 70
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Sunday, March 15, 2009
ATLANTA, March 14 -- Florida State guard Toney Douglas took his time stepping to the free throw line with 48 seconds remaining Saturday in his team's ACC semifinal matchup against North Carolina. His team had demonstrated similar patience all afternoon in maintaining a slim lead over the No. 1 team in the nation, but the Tar Heels had just climbed on top moments earlier.
Douglas calmly sank both free throws to provide the Seminoles (25-8) a one-point lead and just enough poise to hold on. Florida State defeated North Carolina, 73-70, to advance to its first ACC tournament championship game in program history. Douglas led the way with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting.
The Tar Heels (28-4) never developed the rhythm necessary to operate at its preferred up-tempo pace. The two-time defending conference tournament champions shot 37.3 percent from the field, more than 10 percentage points below their season average. Florida State, meantime, made 66.7 percent of its shots in the second half.
"What made the difference was that we got the stops during the period of time that we had to get the stops," Seminoles Coach Leonard Hamilton said. "That's what has happened so much in the ACC: The games are in doubt down to the last three or four minutes, and the team that normally makes the plays at the end of the game pulls it out."
With the score tied and just more than a minute remaining, Bobby Frasor, moved into North Carolina's starting lineup in place of injured ACC player of the year Ty Lawson (toe), hit one of two shots to provide the Tar Heels their first lead since the first minute of the second half.
Douglas answered with a pair of free throws on Florida State's next possession, and after North Carolina turned over the ball, the outcome finally became clear.
"We couldn't stop Douglas," North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said. "We went zone there for a while. . . . We went zone and tried to get the ball out of Toney's hands a little bit, but they made some threes so we got out of the zone."
Tar Heels forward Tyler Hansbrough finished with 22 points on 5-of-12 shooting. He entered the game needing 25 points to pass Duke's J.J. Redick as the ACC's career leading scorer.
